FireandwaterinRiga,Latvia

25 September, 2017

After 9 races with virtually no technical issues MJP Racing Team Austria this changed at Bikernieki Racetrack in Riga. Thus no entry to the semi finals in WRX round 10.

Timo Scheider #44 had a turbo failure in Q1 and the resulting oil leak set the car on fire. Scheider finished the race but the damage to the car was substantial resulting in a DNS (Did Not Start) in Q2. Before Q2 massive rainfall set in causing an electrical failure in the safety kill switch in Kevin Eriksson’s #96 car also resulting in a DNS. The team worked till midnight to get Scheider’s car ready again. In Q3 Scheider had a fantastic run to P5 behind Petter Solberg who also landed in the first group due to a crash in Q2. Eriksson was still not satisfied with the setup and placed 12th. Q4 went well again for Scheider with a P7 but Eriksson struggled with a broken exhaust pipe and placed P13. The two DNS stripped the team of any chance to enter the semifinals. An unsatisfactory weekend in Riga despite the great performance of the team mechanics and the drivers.